


Dinner and a Show

by DaydreamingFangirl



Category: Captain America (Comics), Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluffy cute shit, also cheaters suck we hate them, bucky barnes being a shit head third party is my favourite thing in the world, bucky dealing with the crisis of overly expensive food, i hope yall read the name K Y L E the way i need you to in this fic, like same man, like seriously what an impulsive idiot, with steve being a thicc dumbass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:01:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26474596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaydreamingFangirl/pseuds/DaydreamingFangirl
Summary: The one where Steve impulsively insists on proving that Y/N’s date for the evening is trash instead of figuring out his own feelings for her, meanwhile, Bucky learns that food is way overpriced lolThis fic was done for my friend anika-ann on tumblr! She's celebrating 500 followers and did this writing challenge as a celebration! (Congratulations anika!!!!)Prompt: "This is one of those moments when I tell you something isn’t a good idea and you ignore me, isn’t it?”
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Reader
Comments: 10
Kudos: 47





	Dinner and a Show

_**(** Not my gif, creds to the original creator!)_

It wasn’t like Y/N hadn’t gone on dates before. Sure, it had been a while since the last guy (… _Braydon? Brandon_?… Steve’s forehead was riddled with wrinkles as he tried to remember the _loser’s_ name), but Y/N _had_ gone on dates before and Steve had been _totally_ fine with those guys. He hadn’t spent _any_ time sulking around on the couch and complaining about couples or romance, nothing like that. (Even if Bucky had insisted that he had). He was _perfectly_ fine with Y/N dating, why wouldn’t he be?? Besides, it wasn’t about Y/N going on a date, it was about _who_ she was going on a date with. There was something about _this_ guy in particular that Steve was just not okay with. At least, that’s what he’d been telling himself (and Bucky) for the last few hours.

“You need to get over it, punk,” Bucky shrugged away Steve’s tense shoulders and furrowed brow, too busy fiddling with his long brown locks to note the annoyed twitch that Steve’s face gave in response. Bucky fingers pulled on the section of hair he’d been working on for the last few minutes, tugging it away from his head enough so he could examine it properly in the mirror, only to realize that he _hated_ it and quickly ran his fingers through a very messy looking braid. “Stupid fucking Sam. Why did he have to volunteer the only evening that I’ve actually _needed_ him?,” the winter soldier grumbled, mumbling out some more choice words before letting out a breath and trying to separate the section of hair into threes once again.

On any normal day, Steve probably would’ve found it oddly amusing how Bucky wanted to learn how to braid his hair. He could’ve sworn that the Barnes sister used to have braids in her hair often and wondered why Bucky hadn’t ever learned from her, though he wasn’t going to mention it to such a frustrated Bucky. Besides, this wasn’t a normal day and Steve had his own worries to pace around about.

“Just ask Nat to do it,” Steve suggested, and even whilst rolling his eyes, he could see Bucky huffing and puffing stubbornly.

“I _did_ and then she told me, ‘James Barnes, if little girls the age of 4 can braid their hair using youtube videos, so can you’. But she didn’t tell _which_ youtube video to look at! There’s so many! And none of the ones I do turn out like that time that Sam did it,” Bucky growled, scowling into the mirror he was sitting in front of. His hands were starting to grow tired of holding up his hair, and his fingers weren’t exactly trained to do these small plaits.

The corner of Steve’s lips turned up at the memory of Sam insisting that he would look damn nice in braid. He even pointed out that a bun might stay better in his hair with a braid laced in. “You look softer this way too,” Sam had pointed out with a smile, swatting at Bucky’s hands when he had tried to stop him from touching his hair. “Stop being a baby and let me show you.” He hadn’t been wrong. Bucky’s hair looked nice in both a braid behind his back and with a bun encircled by a braid.

“How do you know how to braid hair, Bird Brain?” Bucky had pouted, but sat still with his hands in his lap.

“This guy at the VA once brought his daughter because he was going through a rough time but it was his weekend to see her. I told him that I’d look after her while he went to his meeting so we sat and talked about the life of a 3rd grader. She gave me one of her dolls and showed me how to braid their hair. And honestly? She did them much nicer than I could dream of, but it’ll do,” Sam’s fingers had worked effortlessly even through Bucky’s slightly tangled hair.

Now here was poor Bucky on his own, trying to figure out how Sam did it. His fingers got all twisted in the locks and his mind played tricks on him when it came to which strand crossed over next. “I’m doomed,” he whined, finally giving up and throwing himself backward onto the floor.

“Buck?” Steve blinked, watching his rather dramatic friend close his eyes as his head thudded gently against the floor. His dark hair sprawled out around him as if he had just given up on living, and not just given up on how to properly do his hair.

“Hm?”

“Could we get back to my crisis?”

“What crisis?” One of Bucky’s eyes opened and noted Steve’s desperate expression before grinning. “Oh you mean how you’re impossibly in love with Y/N and only ever realize it when she’s going on a date, but you’ve never had the guts to tell her so you just sit and mope in your room while she’s getting ready? _That_ crisis?”

There was a moment of silence in the room where Steve’s eyes glared a hole into Bucky’s rather amused looking grin.

“I hate you,” Steve huffed, going back to his pacing around his room. If there wasn’t such hard ground underneath the wood of his room, there would’ve definitely been a racetrack imprinted underneath him from how often he had traced his own steps round his room. “I’m not _in love_ with Y/N, don’t be crazy. I just don’t understand why she agrees to go out with such… idiots. Like that guy? The one who was some lawyer? Roger? Rupert?”

“Richard,” Bucky interrupted, sitting back up to watch his best friend spiral. Steve spiralling about Y/N was both pathetically sad and entertainingly interesting to watch, he had learned.

“Him! With his stupid smile and cocky attitude. Like wow look at me. I’m a lawyer.” There was a snide undertone to Steve’s words, one he couldn’t really say he had ever heard coming out from his lips before. But he pressed onward with a tight frown, his mind outrightly confused about Y/N’s dating life.

“I thought Richard was actually kinda nice. I mean, he _was_ a lawyer, but the only time he ever brought it up was when people asked what he did for a living,” Bucky shrugged, brushing his hair from his face before deciding to throw the strands into a half assed bun to flop against his neck. “What’s wrong with this guy again? The new guy?”

Steve scowled at the mere thought of

 _Kyle_.

Steve wondered if he could strain his eyes from rolling so hard the 5 minutes that he had met Kyle. There was this air of privilege that just _seeped_ off of him but Steve couldn’t point out exactly why it seemed that way. No one else had been around when he had dropped by with an insane amount of roses in his hand, proclaiming his utmost interest in Y/N.

“There’s just something about you, Y/N, babe. You aren’t like any other girl I’ve ever met,” Kyle’s words came off so smooth, so eloquent, and Steve felt himself actually gag a little. But Y/N, with her arms carrying the roses like a newborn babe, eyes shooting around the room like she did when she was embarrassed, didn’t seem to note that this guy was just _too_ smooth. She seemed… to like it?

“So what? The girl likes to be complimented and swooned,” Bucky pointed out as Steve explained all this to him. “Why shouldn’t she? She’s an attractive girl and she doesn’t nearly get as much appreciation as she should.”

“I _know_ she’s attractive,” Steve snapped, feet finally stopped in their pacing, arms folding across his chest. “It’s just the way he admires her. Like she’s a piece of meat on a hook.”

Bucky nodded slowly, somewhat understanding why Steve would be worried. Normally, he would be right behind Steve’s first impression of people since he had a gut feeling about crazy weirdos. But whenever it came to Y/N, Steve let the green-eyed monster step in for him. “So you’ve told her right? That you’re worried?”

Steve blinked at him in confusion, his frown tightening on his tense expression, “Why would I tell her?”

“Because if you’re worried about her for genuine reasons, she’d believe you. Any normal friend would,” Bucky explained, the smile on his lips turning into a smirk. “That is, unless, you also don’t like him for _another_ reason. Maybe you don’t want her going on a date with someone… that isn’t… you?” Bucky teased and Steve rolled his eyes in response but his childhood best friend just laughed it off. “Come on, you two are practically made for each other. You’ve never had this hard time of admitting that you liked a gal before, so why Y/N? Why are you so afraid to admit your feelings for her?”

Steve hesitated for a moment, hoping he didn’t actually have to answer that question. Lucky for him, he didn’t. A knock came at the door and Steve gladly took it as an opportunity to dodge the situation.

“Hey! Do you mind if I use your mirror? You’ve got better lighting in here,” Y/N beamed, dressed head to toe in her finest outfit. The two boys shared a look before Steve nodded and moved out of the way for her to enter the room, Bucky scooting on the floor slightly so he could sit next to her on the floor in front of the mirror. “Thanks! You’re a lifesaver, Steve! I just don’t want to get there and realize that I put too much highlighter on because my lighting in my room is so different,” she explained, setting down her makeup on the floor next to her and patting down the products onto her skin as she examined her reflection.

Bucky looked over at Steve and jutted his chin out in her direction, eyes widening in their madness to try to get Steve to say something.

“Uh, excited for your date?” Steve asked, and Bucky noted the lack of enthusiasm in his tone. Y/N shot him a smile from the mirror and nodded eagerly.

“I told him I’d be okay with like tacos or something, cause I’ve been craving tacos lately, but he insisted he wanted our first real date to be a fancy restaurant downtown! He told me he wouldn’t tell me which one, just to dress nice and look my best.”

Steve’s lips parted to interject that she _always_ looked her best, but held his tongue noting how excited she was. He could almost feel how his stomach dropped a little, how his insides were twisting in discomfort at just how happy she looked. She deserved to be happy, he reminded himself.

“So he’s picking you up then?” Bucky smiled, leaning against the nearby dresser as he watched her pat some powder into her under eye area.

Y/N shook her head and gave a sort of half smile, “I know, that’s what I thought too. Cause how am I supposed to get there if I have no clue where I’m going,” she laughed, and Steve noticed just how nervous it sounded. “But he’s sending a cab for me! Already arranged it to pick me up in a half hour and everything. He said he wanted to come get me but he had an evening meeting he couldn’t pry himself away from.”

A little whisper in Steve’s ear made him wonder was it really an evening meeting? Or did this guy just not want to drive all the way out of the city to pick Y/N up from the complex and bring her to dinner? If he didn’t want that, why wouldn’t he just pick something closer to the two of them? Steve’s jawline tensed as he thought about what he’d give to intimidate the shit out of this _Kyle_ dude but quickly relaxed as Y/N’s eyes caught his.

“You alright, Steve? You look all strung up. Something going on?” Y/N turned away from the mirror to look at him and Steve had to catch his jaw from falling to the ground. He had watched her apply her makeup numerous times, tonight wasn’t anything different or anything, and she was wearing a dress that Steve had seen her in multiple times… but…. Steve felt his insides lurch a little, almost begging to be the person she was dining with, looking like the most gorgeous being in any existing universe.

“Yeah, Steve, why don’t you tell Y/N what’s bugging you,” Bucky egged on, his eyes clearly trying to send a signal to his slightly stupid and oblivious best friend. Y/N was busy facing Steve, watching his eyes and facial expressions so she didn’t see Bucky very aggressively mouthing out, “TELL. HER. HOW. YOU. FEEL!”

Steve’s lips twitched a little, chewing on the inside of his lip nervously, “It’s nothing, really-” he started, glaring at Bucky for even bringing it up.

“I think Y/N deserves to know how you feel. You know. About this _date_ ,” Bucky continued and Y/N’s eyebrows furrowed as she moved her gaze between them.

“My date? Is there something wrong?” Y/N asked, tilting her head slightly as she looked up at Steve with those gorgeous eyes of hers. Look at her, Steve thought to himself, she got all dressed up for this punk and he might not give two shits about her.

“Just… don’t want you to get hurt, doll,” Steve finally managed to get out and Bucky’s head tilted back in exasperation, while Y/N gave Steve a smile.

“You always look out for me, Steve, but I promise I can do this on my own. Besides, I kick alien ass along the rest of you. A mere civilian date can’t go too wrong,” Y/N pointed out with a twinkle in her eye. Steve simply nodded to her, trying to force a smile that said _really no I’m happy for you_.

He cleared his throat a little, quickly shifting the conversation to Bucky’s lack of braiding skills. Y/N laughed at the thought of Bucky Barnes trying to braid his own hair but her fingers moved quickly to pull his hair into a nice bun with a braid looping around it, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek afterwards.

“It’s perfect, Y/N, thank you!” Bucky grinned, smiling _ever_ so innocently at Steve as if to rub it in his friend’s face that _he_ got a kiss on his cheek. Steve wanted to roll his eyes again but Y/N stood up and he held an arm out to steady her as she slipped on her heels.

“Alright! I’m going to wait near the front for FRIDAY to let me know the taxi is here! Wish me luck, boys!” Y/N’s voice was so light and airy, something that Steve rarely heard when they were busy shooting down bad guys or tackling mission prep. He couldn’t help but just wish she would be that excited about seeing him too.

Bucky watched his best friend for a moment, raising an eyebrow at the look of puppy dog love on Steve’s face, “You do realize that she would be that excited _and more_ to got out with you, right?” Bucky informed him, as if he was able to read his mind.

Steve blinked in surprise, glancing over at him, “How would I ever know that for sure?”

“Simple. Ask the girl out.”

* * *

It hadn’t been more than half an hour before Steve burst into Bucky’s room, where he had been skimming through some memes the Peter boy had sent him via the Insta-gram.

“Hey Steve, did you know there’s this new app called TikTok-” Bucky started, not at all phased by the bursting of his friend into his room.

“I’ve got a plan!”

There was a twinkle in his eyes, a sort of mischievous glint that told Bucky he wasn’t going to like this plan at all. “What is it?” He asked, almost regretting it as soon as he did.

“We have to protect her, Bucky, she’s too good for most men of this world. I can’t let this _Kyle_ dude take her out when he’s not nearly good enough. So, we have to go there and make sure he doesn’t hurt her!”

“Mhm. Yeah. Except, we have no clue where she is. She didn’t even know, remember?” Bucky shrugged, hoping that this plan of Steve’s would crumble and he would end up sitting in his room sulking until he got the balls to go tell Y/N how he felt.

“FRIDAY can track her phone!” Steve proudly proclaimed and Bucky wondered if it took him all of the past 30 minutes to come up with this _ingenious_ plan. “I’ll just get FRIDAY to track her phone, we’ll go and set up a reservation, try and get seated near them, and just wear disguises and make sure that he doesn’t try anything!”

Bucky blinked slowly, fingers rubbing his temple as he noticed just how rash and insane his best friend still was, as if they were still kids in the olden days, “You _do_ realize how creepy that is right? You want to track her phone for her location, sit near her and just… _watch_ her? I- You can see how that is creepy right?”

He didn’t.

“Hold up, and what do you mean _we?”_ Bucky asked with a groan, knowing full well he wasn’t going to like the answer.

But Steve was already going through Bucky’s closet to find the most inconspicuous looking clothes that were still fancy enough for a fancy restaurant, too busy throwing clothes at Bucky’s bed to answer.

“ ** _This is one of those moments when I tell you something isn’t a good idea and you ignore me, isn’t it?_** ” Bucky whined a little, throwing his head back onto his bed and closing his eyes, wondering how his best friend managed to lose all sense of rationale when it came to Y/N.

* * *

And that is how, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, dressed in suits matched with baseball hats and sunglasses (“this isn’t how you blend in, Steve, especially at some fancy restaurant,” Bucky had tried to warn him) ended up in line at 

_L’ailment,_

trying to pretend like they weren’t sticking out of the crowd like a sore thumb.

“Sir, I’m sorry, without a reservation, it’s almost impossible to be seated-” the front of house insisted but Steve pulled off his sunglasses, glancing around nervously.

“Any chance you could make an exception for two superheroes who are good friends with Tony Stark?” Steve begged, practically on his knees pleading to get in.

Turns out, she could.

The lady had another server lead them into the dining area, and Steve quickly asked if they could be seated in a booth that just so happened to be near a gorgeous black dress-wearing girl who was giggling as she sipped the liquid from a wine glass.

“-you have the most gorgeous laugh I have ever heard,” Kyle was saying and Steve had to keep himself from choking on his gag reflex. Y/N laughed some more, and there was a glow to her skin that Steve found himself wishing he had caused instead of… _Kyle_.

“Sir?” The waiter was tapping Steve’s shoulder and Bucky chuckled a bit, noting that Steve had just been standing there, staring at Y/N and Kyle longer than would be comfortable.

“Sorry, thank you,” Steve blushed, slipping onto his seat and kicking at Bucky’s leg as he continued to laugh at him.

“So much for not being obvious,” Bucky whispered to him, throwing his hat and sunglasses away, much to Steve’s annoyance. But before he could convince his best friend that these disguises were highly necessary on their mission, Bucky had become too concerned with how much the restaurant was charging for food, “How much???? For pasta???”

“Bucky!” Steve hissed with a glare, “Shut up, I’m trying to listen!”

“-looking for just someone to be my best friend,” Kyle was saying, swirling his wine around in its glass. “Here I was thinking that I didn’t want anything serious and then you walk into my life… and I can tell that if I don’t do this right, I’d be missing out on something amazing.”

Y/N’s giggle told Steve everything. That crazy line _worked_ , Steve couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t she tell he was lying? Steve’s hands curled into fists against his thighs, tensing at just how fake the guy sounded to him.

“I mean, he seems pretty genuine. Sure it’s a bit cheesy, but he didn’t actively change the subject or anything and it’s not like he’s avoiding being seen in public with her,” Bucky pointed out much to Steve’s discontent. He waved him off, straining his hearing to hear the rest of the conversation over other people at nearby tables.

“Come on, you can’t tell me that you’re surrounded by good looking dudes who are _superheroes_ all day and you haven’t gone to bed with any of them!” Kyle was laughing and Y/N joined in, but Steve watched as she shifted somewhat uncomfortably at what he was insinuating.

“They’re the closest things I have to family, sometimes I’ve thought about dating members of the team-” Y/N admitted and Steve’s heart fluttered a bit, wondering if she was talking about him… before it fell at the realization it could be someone else. “-don’t think they could be all that interested in me anyways. But enough about me, tell me more about what you do at your job, how was your meeting earlier?”

“Ah you know, late evening meetings, same old, same old,” Kyle smiled, brushing off the topic quickly and glancing at his phone that happened to be on the table. “Give me a second, won’t you, darling? It’s the office. If I don’t get it now, they’ll just keep calling.”

Y/N smiled at him and nodded, waving him off, “I get it. Work is busy, go ahead.” Kyle grinned in response and took off to the back, Y/N sipping on her wine some more as she was left alone at the table.

“Who the hell leaves a pretty girl at the dinner table by themselves to take a work call?” Steve grumbled with a huff, shifting in his seat.

“You would,” Bucky pointed out with a shrug, glancing at the drink menu. “If the Avengers called, you’re telling me you would finish dinner?”

“That’s different, Buck, we’re talking a violent threat versus some office call,” Steve rolled his eyes, glancing at the direction that Kyle had taken off at. “I’m going to the bathroom, hold on.”

He excused himself, Bucky eagerly whispering in his trail, “What do you want if the waiter comes?” He didn’t answer, leaving Bucky to grumble that he just wouldn’t order him anything. But food wasn’t exactly on Steve’s mind right now anyways.

Steve maneuvered himself around Y/N’s table, quickly hiding himself behind a few waiters and other guests so she wouldn’t recognize him, before swiftly walking to the back of the restaurant. He glanced around near the bathrooms, raising an eyebrow as he caught Kyle’s stature near one of the corners.

Half pretending to be looking at the art displayed on the wall and half pretending to be listening to something on the phone he put up to his ear, Steve managed to duck his face away from Kyle who seemed to be chuckling over something the person on the other end of his call said.

“-I know sweetie, I wish I could be home with you right now but I’ve got this meeting… I know I’m tired of last minute meetings too but I promise it’ll be worth it when I get this promotion,” Kyle was saying and Steve could feel something burning inside of him. “Love you too, dearest. Best wife ever, hm?” And with that, Kyle made a kissing sound to the phone and hung up, straightening out his jacket and smoothing out his hair.

Steve wasn’t sure what came over him but he couldn’t deny he saw red. Here this guy was, at dinner with one of the nicest, most honest, amazing human beings that Steve had ever met in his years of living, and this bonehead had a _wife_ at home? Before he could think through the situation, Steve’s arm shot out, grabbing Kyle as he walked by and slamming him hard into the wall.

“What the fuck, man?” Kyle screeched, eyes widening when he realized who was under the baseball hat. “The hell? She brought her superhero boyfriend around?” He scoffed, wincing a little as Steve tightened his grip. “Damn she must be real good in bed for a guy like you to be all riled up about her,” Kyle chuckled, as if his joking manner would ease the tense situation.

But Steve’s eyes just got darker, “You’re a fucking asshole, you know that right?” Steve wished to god his glare could burn a hole into Kyle, his face going red with the boiling rage running through his body. “She got all excited for this date. She’s been talking about you non-stop and you’re going around two timing on her?”

The sound of Kyle’s body against the wall must’ve surprised some of the restaurant’s patrons, whispers growing louder around them. Steve didn’t need to look around for his peripheral to catch the workers coming closer.

“Sir, please, you’re causing a scene. I must ask that you bring this outside of our establishment,” someone was saying but Steve stood exactly where he was, firm in his anger.

“What’s going on here? Is everything okay?” This was the only voice that made Steve jump back slightly, his eyes immediately catching breathtaking ones that he had always admired. “Steve?” Y/N’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked between the two of them, trying to decipher the situation. “Wh-What’re you… why the hell are you here?”

“Your coworker’s got some crazy anger issues here,” Kyle huffed, pulling himself together and brushing his shoulders off. “Grabbed me for no goddamn reason.”

Steve shot him a glare and almost prided himself on the fact that the boy in front of him winced a little, “No reason huh? You want to tell her who I heard you talking to?”

There was a flutter of fear and guilt in Kyle’s eyes, even though his chest puffed out in arrogance, “I have no clue what you’re talking about, I was talking to my work-”

“Bull shit.” Steve took a step closer to him and Kyle immediately took one back, his back hitting the wall again. Their gazes went unwavered, Steve challenging him to say one more lie.

“Steve, stop this,” Y/N insisted, pulling on his arm slightly. “The hell are you doing? What are you even doing here?”

But Steve ignored her questions, eyes still steady on Kyle, “Tell her. Or I will.” There was a pause and Steve couldn’t help but roll his eyes for what felt like the thousandth time. Kyle couldn’t even man himself up to admit what was going on. “Fine. Your date here just got off the phone with a girl who’s waiting for him to come back home. His _wife_. He told her you were just a business meeting.” Steve turned to look at Y/N, who just looked hurt and confused. She pulled her hands away from the grip they had on Steve and he could see her swallowing down the embarrassment as people shuffled awkwardly to see what the outcome of the situation would be.

Steve felt a quick moment of pride, his ego boosting a little as he confirmed his own suspicions that _this_ was the reason why he had had an issue with Y/N going out on a date tonight. Here this guy was, sleazy and _clearly_ not a good enough guy for Y/N, and Steve had been absolutely right. But almost immediately after the small burst of celebration, Steve felt his heart sink slightly at the look in Y/N’s eyes.

Although her posture was still stiff, her jaw clenched as she looked at Kyle, as if waiting for him to explain that it was all a misunderstanding. That the woman at home was actually his mom or some relative and Steve had just heard the whole phone call wrong. But Kyle just puffed his chest out some more, acting as if nothing had happened. As if he had done nothing wrong. Her gaze then turned to Steve, confusion filling her eyes as she tried to understand why he was even here. Why had he followed her to this date? And for that matter, _how_ had he followed her?

Embarrassment filled Y/N’s whole body and she could feel her nails digging into her palms as she tightened her hands into fists. “Fuck you, Kyle,” was all she said after a moment, turning around and walking quickly out of the restaurant. People gave her empathetic glances as she rushed away but her pace quickened all the more any time she caught their eyes.

“Y/N!” Steve called out to her, his shoulders slinking down slightly as he watched her disappear. People’s murmurs were growing, whispers and assumptions flying to his ears and making him feel smaller than how he was pre-serum. He even caught a few people trying to film the whole situation. A small piece of guilt started to grow in his stomach as he realized how much embarrassment he had just caused. He could’ve handled the whole situation better, he knew that in hindsight.

“How’d that go for you, punk?” Bucky asked slowly as Steve rushed past their table, hoping to following Y/N outside this now claustrophobic-feeling restaurant. Bucky got up from the table, whisking himself away to Steve’s side as the man frantically tried to chase after the girl,“I gotta say, I love a night filled with dinner and a show, but _that_ was terrible entertainment.”

It was at this moment that Steve had not only wished that he hadn’t come in the first place, but he especially wished he hadn’t brought Bucky around. As soon as they had burst through the doors, Steve wasn’t sure if he was relieved or even more panicked to find Y/N standing there, tears falling from her face.

“Get the hell away from me, Rogers,” she warned with a shaky voice, her eyes shooting him a glare as she desperately tried to wipe her face.

“Y/N, please, let me explain,” Steve begged, walking towards her and reaching out to her but she flinched away, a stern look on her face even with sobs shakily leaving her lips.

“You ruined _everything,_ Steve, why couldn’t you just leave me alone? You followed me to a fucking restaurant! I didn’t even know where I was going so how did you-” she paused as she thought about it and Steve’s eyes moved to the ground in shame. The anger built up in her quickly than he expected, her foot stomping on the ground in frustration, “You had FRIDAY track my fucking phone? God, Steve Rogers, you piece of shit, I can’t _believe_ you!”

Steve opened his lips to insist that it was for a good reason but gave up, knowing there really wasn’t a good enough reason to explain, “I-I’m sorry, doll, I know I was an idiot. But I couldn’t let him take advantage of you! I _knew_ there was something wrong with him!”

“Then why the hell didn’t you tell me beforehand? Did you just magically have this realization while I was already on my way here? Why didn’t you say something?” She demanded, arms crossed in front of her.

“I-I-” Steve stammered out, his mind suddenly drawing a blank of all those excuses that seemed like such good reasons earlier. “I’m sorry,” was all he could manage out.

Y/N huffed exasperatedly, shaking her head and pacing around on the sidewalk, ignoring all the glances of people passing nearby, “I cannot believe you, Steve. And then to top it all off, when you found out, you didn’t even just tell me privately. Ha! No, you had to show it off, dangle your new found knowledge in my face in front of _everyone_ as if my dating life is any of their business! You had to go shove him into a wall like some macho alpha asshole!”

Steve’s shoulders shrunk as she yelled at him, knowing he deserved it with the way he ignored Bucky’s warnings (and his own conscience, for that matter), “I-… I know I fucked up, doll, and I’m _sorry_ , and I’ll keep apologizing for however long you want. I just couldn’t let you go out with that asshole. You deserve so much better than all these guys you bring around, don’t you know that? You should be with a man who’s so much more than the others. Someone who wouldn’t treat you like a _business dinner_ ,” Steve told her, as if pleading for her to see that she was so many leagues better than the rest of the world.

Y/N hesitated, tears still sliding down her cheeks and ruining that perfect makeup she had put on only hours earlier. Her eyes watched him as he pleaded, eyebrows tensing as if in confusion, “Someone like you?” She asked quietly, almost in a mocking tone. Her words felt so harsh in the heat of the moment but she couldn’t take them back once they were gone.

But the scoff that she expected never came. The _we’re just friends, Y/N_ never left his lips. The look in his eyes wasn’t a look of _but you’re just like a little sister to me_. There was a pause and even Bucky, who was standing a few feet away, was holding his breath as the two of them stood there.

“I-I dunno,” Steve grumbled out nervously, eyes quickly dropping from Y/N’s gaze, which was quickly becoming a look of confusion. Steve fidgeted under such a tense situation, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought about all those times he had just wanted to be around her. Just wanted to listen to her talk about that hobby of hers that she thought no one cared about. How he longed to lay next to her and just play with her hair, watch as she slowly dazed away. Steve could feel his heart pounding against his chest as he thought about her, thought about all the feelings he had pushed down so eagerly from the moment they met. “Anyways, it doesn’t matter. I said someone _better_ ,” he pointed out shyly.

He wanted her to agree. He wanted her to scoff and laugh bitterly. He wanted that anger that was in her voice so long ago to drown him in his guilt, he wanted her to throw him away so he could confirm the fear that kept his feelings at bay for so long. She couldn’t ever want him, he was being foolish. Look at the guys she brought home, they were _normal_. Deliciously normal with 8 to 5 jobs and a retirement plan, and here he was. The only reason he was even able to breathe properly without wheezing is because of some serum running through his body. He wasn’t normal, he couldn’t give her normal.

There was a furrow in Y/N’s brow as she tried to piece together Steve’s behaviour and his half-confession. Her eyes moved to Bucky, who was watching with half a smile on his face. The two of them shared a silent conversation, her questions answered by a single nod of his head.

“Steve, did you come out here and follow me because…because you were jealous?” Y/N asked him, still confused. There was a little light humour to her voice because _of course_ Steve was not jealous. Steve is Captain Fucking America. Why would the literal god of all things perfect be jealous of anything coming near her? No, it had to be that he wanted to protect her. It had to be that they were _just_ friends because if they weren’t just friends, then everything that Nat, Wanda, Pepper, and even Tony had said was correct. That would mean that maybe Steve did brighten a little whenever she walked into a room, maybe he did start wearing that blue shirt more often because she had commented how much she liked it, maybe he had bought that way-too-expensive cologne because she enjoyed the scent… maybe all those longing glances across the room, the lingering touches of their hands… maybe it hadn’t all been in her head.

Steve felt his heart start crawling up his throat, clutching at the dryness and making him regret he hadn’t at least drank some water earlier. There was a part of him that wanted to deny it, to throw his heart away as far as he could and insist that no good could come from this. But the look on her face, what was that in her eyes- was that hope? Steve cleared his throat slightly, shifting his weight on his feet as he sheepishly looked up at her, “Would that be bad?” He asked her softly. “Me… Me being jealous, would that be a terrible thing?”

Y/N’s lips turned into a small smile, a gentleness touching her tearful eyes, “No, I don’t think it’d be terrible. Actually, it might be… a good thing.”

Steve’s posture straightened as she spoke, the lines smoothing on his forehead while his heart still beat aggressively into his chest, “R-Really?”

“But this doesn’t excuse your poor behaviour, Steven,” Y/N scolded him again quickly, wagging her finger in his face. “Feelings for me or not, you should’ve told me! You shouldn’t have followed me to the restaurant or embarrassed me publicly!” Steve’s head ducked again as he nodded along, knowing she was right and he really did fuck up a lot tonight. “But,” she smiled a bit, her heart fluttering a little at the mere thought that Steve fucking Rogers was jealous over her dating, “maybe if you keep apologizing and work on that irrational behaviour of yours, we can consider making sure this never happens again.”

Steve nodded quickly, smiling at her innocently, “I promise I won’t ever be this kind of idiot again. I can’t promise I won’t be another kind of idiot, but I promise I won’t have FRIDAY track your phone and follow you on another date every again.”

Y/N laughed at how puppy dog he seemed, eagerly begging for love so quickly after being scolded, “I mean, it would be pretty awkward if you didn’t come to my next few dates.”

Steve blinked at her in confusion, trying to follow her thought process, “S-Sorry?”

“Well if you’re going to take me out, you can’t just _not_ come along,” Y/N pointed out with a small stifled giggle, Steve’s eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Thank fuck, that took so long,” Bucky yelped out from behind them, lazily wrapping his arm around Steve’s shoulders and rubbing his knuckles into the blond’s head, who just groaned and tried to shove him off. “Honestly, next time at least feed me if you’re going to take this long. Can we go home now? I’m seriously hungry for some pasta that’s not going to cost me a second mortgage.”

“Do you even have a _first_ mortgage?” Steve asked with confusion and Bucky swatted at his head quickly, insisting that that wasn’t the point.

Y/N couldn’t help but smile as she watched the two, biting down on her lip as Steve met her eyes and smiled that same heart-melting smile. After climbing into a cab that she had waved down, Bucky told the story of tonight’s events from his own perspective ~~(exaggerating details, Y/N was sure of it)~~. She knew one day she would laugh at how impulsive Steve’s thinking was, but for right now, she was just happy with the fact that he had taken her hand in his as they drove home.

## ** ** ** ** ** ** ** 

Hi hello, just a quick other author’s note to big a huge thank you to [@wxstedhexrt](https://tmblr.co/mOmLJ33HTdQLbNcNkkI95Mg) (aka the love of my life). Thank you for always reading my fics and being excited about my writing, thank you for helping me when I’m stumped and for giving me the title of this fic. Thank you for being fucking amazing and the best human ever <3 I really don’t know if I would’ve put this out without you so thank you so much <3

##  [MASTERLIST](https://pies-writes-and-more.tumblr.com/post/616128405766832128/avengers-m-a-s-t-e-r-l-i-s-t)


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